Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
The Boston Celtics will indeed be in the market this summer for a veteran shooting guard, and Jamal Crawford just might fit the bill.
The 32-year-old combo guard told a Seattle television station on Thursday that he would not opt-in to the final year of his contract with Portland, which means he’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
“I’m a free agent, so I’m excited about what’s there moving forward,” Crawford told Seattle television station KING. “There will be a lot of teams out there with a lot of interest. I’ll sit back after July 1 (the day free agency begins) and see what happens.”
CSNNE: Jamal Crawford intriguing option for Celtics
The one plus to getting Crawford would be that he’d no longer be on another team to kill the Celtics. For a while there it seemed that whenever Crawford saw green, the basket would get bigger for him (though he didn’t do much in their last matchup).
The positives about him: He can score off the bench, which the Celtics really need. He’s definitely not afraid to take shots, but he can also handle the ball a bit.
The negatives: He’s 32, which means he’s probably on the decline. He had his worst shooting season in 10 years, though that might be a function of being unhappy with Portland. His PER of 15.7 actually matched his 2008-09 season in New York. He’s also not going to be the best defender on the floor… which is a nice way of assuming he might actually think about playing D under Doc Rivers.
He made $5 million and opted out of his deal. That could be because he wants more money… or it could be that he just wanted to get the hell out of Portland… which has become a joke of a franchise lately thanks to Paul Allen’s monster ego. Maybe he’ll take similar money to go somewhere that’s not Portland.
One other thing about Crawford that I didn’t realize until Rich Levine pointed it out:
Jamal Crawford is the NBA’s all-time leader in four-point plays.
How many does he have? Well, one answer is 34.
Another answer: Enough to have his own three-minute Youtube video comprised of only four-point plays
He does. And it’s right here:
[youtube id=”suasIpjCK5Q” width=”620″ height=”360″]One other note: Mickael Pietrus agent says he doesn’t know how Pietrus even played with the knee issue he was dealing with. Of course, that’s very likely agent-speak to (a) justify a disappointing playoffs for Pietrus and (b) pump him up as a tough guy who’ll play through injuries…. both things that will benefit him on the free agent market
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